No Prisoners - Fighting the Japanese in World War 2 | WWII Veteran Interview

Ted Covington recalls a wounded Japanese soldier moaning in tall grass after a failed Banzai charge. The wounded soldier couldn't be helped by US soldiers out of fear he might be booby trapped. The Japanese soldier would eventually succumb to his wounds.

Ted states how it was difficult to capture Japanese soldiers. He remembers an incident when a Japanese prisoner jumped a US soldier and gave him a good fight until ultimately being knocked out and put back into restraints.

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About the Veteran: Major Edmund 'Ted' Covington, Jr. served with the US Army in the 1st Cavalry Division, 61st Field Artillery Battalion, during World War II. He was stationed in the Pacific Theater fighting the Japanese Army during the war. His service spanned many campaigns including New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, Leyte, the Philippines, and the Army of Occupation in Japan. He would earn 2 Bronze Stars with Oakleaf Cluster as well as 2 Air Medals during his service.

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My Dad joined the US Navy in the last months of the war. When WW2 ended he was involved in hauling the surrendered Japanese from the Pacific Islands back to their homeland. He said they would kill themselves any time they could find a way to get it done rather than go home and live the rest of their lives. Young men who could have gone home and lived another 50 or 60 years. Dad understood their beliefs and the reason they were killing themselves but he couldn't rationalize it. He didn't hate them or anything like that. The war was over and he would have liked to see them go home and make a good life for themselves after surviving the war. Decades later when I was in highschool a Japanese kid named Kazunori moved in with the family up the street from our house. He and I became friends and Dad would make it a point to talk to Kaz and I think he was glad to get to know a Japanese person under circumstances that weren't awful.